A former Miami Gardens Police Chief has been accused of sexual misconduct by a former Broward High School basketball star, who had applied to become a Miami Gardens police officer.
The woman said during that process she received special attention from another member of the force: then acting police Chief Antonio Brooklen.
Brooklen then began texting and calling her.
She also said that he touched her inappropriately in a patrol car and said she went along with it because she did not want to be fired.
The victim said the inappropriate attention made her uncomfortable and that she had no romantic interest in Brooklen because she is a lesbian.
After she got the job, she said she began dating another young officer, Kimberly McDonald. Then she learned that McDonald was having an intimate relationship with another member of the force.
McDonald’s lover was the same Miami Gardens Police Chief Antonio Brooklen.
On April 18, Battle, who was on duty at the time, and McDonald had a domestic dispute at McDonald’s home.
Police were called.
It sparked an internal investigation and Battle alleges that Brooklen pressured her to resign her position, promising her he would help her get a job. She resigned a week after the incident, on April 25.
The internal investigation, however, wasn’t concluded until two months later.
McDonald was suspended with pay.
Battle’s attorney, Stephan Lopez, said he sent an intent-to-sue letter to the city September 19 on behalf of Battle alleging sexual harassment ,among other causes.
Three days later, Brooklen abruptly resigned as the top cop, from a position he’d called his dream job less than a year before. In his letter he cited the health of his mother, who is seriously ill.
McDonald is still suspended with pay, in limbo, deprived of her badge and gun.
Brooklen was demoted and suspended for 30 days back in 2009 after a sexual harassment complaint was made by a female crime scene technician that he was sexually harassing her with phone calls and text messages.
The employee alleged he offered to give her a massage, asked to take her out, and encouraged her to wear “something short” to show off her legs. The internal investigation found “considerable inappropriate behavior” on Brooklen’s part and that he “demonstrated in extremely poor judgment in pursuing a relationship with” the woman, “without thinking about the consequences or impact it would have on his own marriage … or most importantly the Miami Gardens Police Department.”
